Sunday, 29 April 2012

We'll Always Have Summer (Summer Series #3) - Jenny Han; Review.

Book Details:

Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: Puffin (3 May 2012)

ISBN-10: 0141330562

ISBN-13: 978-0141330563

Summary:

It's been two years since Conrad told Belly to go with Jeremiah. She and Jeremiah have been inseparable ever since, even attending the same college - only, their relationship hasn't exactly been the happily ever after Belly had hoped it would be. And when Jeremiah makes the worst mistake a boy can make, Belly is forced to question what she thought was true love. Does she really have a future with Jeremiah? Has she ever gotten over Conrad? It's time for Belly to decide, once and for all, who has her heart forever.

Thanks as usual to Puffin for the third instalment in this series, the review for the first and second book in the trio can be found here and here.

After reading the second book, "It's Not Summer Without You" I was pretty excited to read the third book and so when I picked it up straight after the second and had finished it, I couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Jenny Han brings forth the same character we've travelled on for the series, and they all have their flaws, yet it still felt like there was something lacking - perhaps the chemistry, or things just didn't mesh as well for me as they did in the previous book. I found some instances to be forced, not allowing us to make our mind up about what happened and rather follow what Han intended for us.

Yet those faults aside, I easily got back in to the swing of the story, as drama unfolded, there were tears, joy, laughter and more character development which gets a thumbs up from me. I always had a slight issue with the character of Belly, yet in this we finally see her grow up in the right way, still make mistakes, but be a lot wiser than she used to be. As for Conrad, we finallyyy get the insight in to his mind *I've sorely been waiting for this* and it shows a lot of what people were missing when they dismissed Conrad's elusiveness. You come to understand what Conrad's been going through and why he is the character he is.

As for Jeremiah, he effortlessly proves that not everyone is perfect - he too screws up and that flaw of his, makes him more real for me - I rooted for his character all the way.

Wedding, friendship, love, family - it was all here in this book and it was packed full. Although, personally for me, I just felt that the characters were still too young to be getting married. Maybe it's just due to my personal opinion, but it felt kind of rushed and there were a lot of pieces missing in the book that just didn't allow everything to fall in place like I had hoped.

Yet despite the problems I faced, the book was an easy read and it was Han's fluid writing that allows you to get through the book easily. Despite being disappointed with it, I still liked reading it and felt the series was wrapped up in a nice way.